Don’t Toss, Re Use

Before you toss away that egg carton or piece of old rug, think of something else you can use it for. Stuck? Well here are some wonderful reuses of those trash items.

Use an Old Eyeglass Case for Hardware Storage

Do you have a bunch of old eyeglass cases that you don’t use anymore? I re purposed them to store small things like drill bits and screws. I keep it in my toolbox until needed. It’s so much easier having them all together in one place, and not have to dig around everywhere to find the right bit.

Bread Tabs

Not sure which cord goes with which electronic device plugged into your power strip? Save yourself the hassle of following the cord from the plugin to the device for each item you need to move by labeling them. Plastic bread tabs are perfect for labeling cords that are plugged into a power strip because they’re sturdy, have enough room to write on and can easily clip around the plugin end of a cord. Plus, they often come in different colors. You’ll be able to easily identify and move your electrical devices.

To-Go Coffee Cup

Use a clean to-go coffee cup with a lid to water plants. The hole in the lid is small, so water pours slowly. It’s especially useful for plants such as aloe vera and cacti, which don’t require much water and are at risk of over watering.

Carpet

I cut and glued a piece of carpet to the bottom of my toolbox to protect surfaces like floors and counter tops from scratches. The carpet also makes it easy to slide my toolbox around rather than picking it up just to move it a little way.

Grocery Bag Shoe Covers

Reuse plastic grocery bags as shoe covers. The plastic keeps dirt and water contained, and the handle loops can be tied around your ankles to keep them on when you step inside your house for a quick break.

Paper Towel Roll Bag Storage

There are many uses for plastic grocery bags in the workshop. You can use them to seal up brushes and rollers during a painting project, so you don’t have to wash so much stuff between coats. The point is, it’s worth keeping a handful of plastic grocery bags on hand in the home or workshop, and here’s a great tip for storing them: Stuff as many plastic grocery bags as possible into an empty paper towel roll. Then toss the roll in a drawer or cabinet. The cardboard tube keeps the bags contained, and it’s easy to pull one out at a time when you need it.

Six-Pack Hangers

Save those plastic six-pack rings to hang cords, ropes and air compressor hoses. Fold over the plastic holder to make a three-ring strip, then slide one end through the other—around the cord or hose—and hang it on a nail or peg.

This idea came from Don Ruggieri

Start Seeds in Toilet Paper Tubes

For an easy and green way to start seeds, save your toilet paper and paper towel tubes. Cut the tubes into 2 in. lengths and set them in a waterproof tray. Fill the tubes with potting soil and plant your seeds. When the seedlings are ready to move to the garden, plant them right in their cardboard tube. The cardboard will decompose. Be sure to keep the tube below the soil surface, so it doesn’t wick moisture away from the roots.

Save that Six-Pack!

Do all of your small bottles in the refrigerator door like to tip over after opening or closing the door? Fortunately, the answer to tidying those wayward bottles is just a recycling bin away.To keep all of your condiments under control use an empty six-pack holder to hold and organize the condiments in your refrigerator door.This organization solution is also great for transporting your condiments for a backyard BBQ or picnic!

Paint Stick to Clean Lint Buildup

Once in a while it’s important to clean the area around your dryer’s lint trap, as the screen doesn’t always catch all of the debris. A paint stir stick with a clean rag wrapped around one end makes a great tool for this task.

From Family Handyman

Paper Towel Boot Saver

This is a fabulous way to store your boots, and keep them in shape. Insert one or two empty paper towel rolls inside each of your tall boots to help them keep their shape while in storage. When tall boots are back in season, you won’t have to spend time ironing out creases.

Paper Towel Cord Storage

Give empty paper towel rolls new life as cord wranglers. Fold small extension cords neatly before slipping them into their own individual storage sleeve. You can even label the cords by writing on the cardboard.

This next idea is in my kitchen

Flour Sifter Flower Pot

If you have an old flour sifter you no longer use, try turning into a planter. If you don’t have one, there’s a good chance you’ll find one at a thrift store or garage sale.

Photo: Courtesy of Modern Shelter Blog

Mattress Spring Flower Wall

This clever DIYer used old mattress springs for a flower wall. The springs are hung on the side of the house near the patio.

Grated Cheese Container

Reuse your grated cheese container to shake grass seed on bare spots in your lawn. The holes in the container are the perfect size for dispensing just the right amount without overdoing it.

Bike Inner Tubes
Make lifting heavy loads with your wheelbarrow a little more pleasant by adding these cushioned hand grips. Reuse an old rubber bike tube by cutting pieces to fit over the wheelbarrow handles. If needed, use a hair dryer to warm up the rubber and make it easier to stretch. The bike tube provides the perfect amount of padding and traction.

Bubble Wrap®

Bubble Wrap® can help prevent blisters by placing some on the handle of a rake or a broom.

Coffee Bag Ties

Small bags of fancy coffee have heavy-duty ties to keep them airtight. The ties are handy for securing small coils of electrical cable and rope. They’re usually fastened to the bag with just a dab of glue, making them pretty easy to pull off. — Joe Gemmill

Egg Cartons

Keep a few empty egg cartons with the rest of your painting supplies. They’re great for lifting a small project off of a work surface, making it easier to paint nooks and crannies and along the base of the project.

Egg cartons are so great for starting seeds also!

This is not a new one, but it is a great use of your laundry container. Just rinse them out thoroughly and then recycle them for watering plants. Drill 1/8-in. holes in the top of the cap, and a 1/2-in. hole just above the handle to relieve pressure so the water flows free.

How to Turn an Empty Milk Jug Into a Watering Can

I only own one watering can, so I need to refill it four or five times to water all of the plants on my patio. Instead of buying more overpriced watering cans, I use old milk jugs. I drill a few holes in the caps, fill up the jugs with water and I’m good to go.

— Harrison Berg

Micro Greenhouse

Do you have a hard time starting seeds or cuttings? Try soda bottle greenhouses. Cut the bottom off 2-liter soda bottles and remove the labels. Each seed gets its own micro greenhouse! Remove the greenhouses once the seeds have germinated and cuttings are rooted

DIY Lint Fire Starter Log

This is one I have used for years. It is so great not only for your camping trips but, it is also great for that fire pit you have in your backyard. To properly build a fire, you need to have tinder (easy-lighting material), kindling (finger-size sticks) and fuel (logs). We all have a readily available supply of tinder: dryer lint! To make fire starters, I stuff empty toilet paper tubes with dryer lint. My dryer lint “logs” light quickly and easily burn long enough to light up the kindling. And I don’t have to resort to lighter fluid!

An Excuse to Snack While Painting

Washing a roller cover between coats of paint is a waste of time and paint. So one of my painting necessities is a can of chips; preferably the plastic cans. Before I start painting, I eat the chips and then clean out the can. I don’t want any unintended texture on my walls! Between coats, I slip the wet roller cover in the empty chip can and pop on the lid to keep it from drying out. — Thomas Nolan

Rubber Gloves Rubber Bands

Extend the usefulness of old, leaky rubber gloves by recycling them as rubber bands. Cut them into various lengths and widths with a sharp pair of scissors, store ’em on a nail and surprise yourself with how handy they are around the shop. They not only bind together power cords and dowels but also work well as glue clamps for repair and assembly jobs.

The Easiest Way to Save on Potting Soil

For deep planters, fill the bottom with old cans and plant pots. The cans and pots improve drainage and create air pockets for better aeration and healthier soil. You can also use ‘packing peanuts’.

Toilet Paper Roll Wrapping Paper Sleeve

This hint will save you from wasting wrapping paper each time you bring it out of storage. Rather than sticking a piece of tape along the loose edge, cut an empty toilet paper tube lengthwise and wrap it around a roll of wrapping paper. Cinch it up and secure the sleeve with a piece of tape. Next time you use the wrapping, you may rip the sleeve when removing it, but your wrapping paper will remain intact.

Shoe Box Touch-Up Paint Kit

Create a reusable paint touch-up kit with an empty shoe box. Fill the box with a small roller and roller cover, a paintbrush, paint can opener, gloves, stir stick, etc. Then cover the shoe box lid with saran wrap, fill it with a bit of paint and use it as a roller tray.

Oil Bottle Hardware Storage

Safer Blade Disposal

Save that empty spice container with a removable lid—it makes a great blade disposal container in the workshop. That’s what reader Bill Nelson does! The container is durable and can hold several used utility blades, damaged nails and other sharp objects to be thrown away without cutting the trash bag open or posing a hazard in the shop.

Simple Skinny Funnel

If you’re in need an easy to make disposable funnel, we have the perfect solution for you.

Simply cut off the handle from a gallon water (or milk) jug, and use this to serve as a disposable funnel. This funnel will help you to drain anything from your left over wood glue to the old oil in your leaf blower. This handle funnel will help you get to hard to reach places and small bottle openings. When using this funnel to drain old oil, it directs the oil to the drain pan without spilling a drop. It’s also smart to use this disposable funnel for messy projects because you can just throw it away once you are done. It’s so simple and effective!

Simple Skinny Funnel

If you’re in need an easy to make disposable funnel, we have the perfect solution for you.

Simply cut off the handle from a gallon water (or milk) jug, and use this to serve as a disposable funnel. This funnel will help you to drain anything from your left over wood glue to the old oil in your leaf blower. This handle funnel will help you get to hard to reach places and small bottle openings. When using this funnel to drain old oil, it directs the oil to the drain pan without spilling a drop. It’s also smart to use this disposable funnel for messy projects because you can just throw it away once you are done. It’s so simple and effective!

Arina P Habich/Shutterstock

Protect Sprouting Plants

If you cut a gallon jug (like a classic plastic milk jug) about two-thirds down the bottom, you can create an effective enclosure to protect planted seeds and new shoots from birds and rodents, which is faster and more effective than trying to use sprays and traps. For busy gardens, get a marker and write the name of the plant on the jug so you know what’s growing beneath without needing to check your seed packets: Remember to eventually take the jugs off as shoots develop to avoid mold.

Dish Soap Glue Bottle

Reuse an empty dish soap container as a refillable glue bottle. The small size and screw-on top with attached cap are perfect for squeezing out wood glue. Be sure to rinse the inside of the container thoroughly (including the lid) and let it dry completely before filling it with glue.

Dish Soap Glue Bottle

Reuse an empty dish soap container as a refillable glue bottle. The small size and screw-on top with attached cap are perfect for squeezing out wood glue. Be sure to rinse the inside of the container thoroughly (including the lid) and let it dry completely before filling it with glue.

Published by kelleysdiy

I love creating new ideas. And now that I am happily retired, I have lots more time to create them! Whether its crafts for decorating my home, or up cycling items I find at garage sales, thrift stores, and even on the curb, and turning them into something wonderful.
The creative juices flowing in my head are almost always in overdrive....so many ideas! I love sharing my new ideas with all of you! So please follow me and let me know how I'm doing! I hope I can inspire you.....and if I do....send me a pic. I would love to see your creation.
View all posts by kelleysdiy

Really cool stuff – i’ll start collecting those plastic tabs to label my husband’s mess of cords in his home office. Then I’ll sort out his mess of small hardware into several eye glasses cases. Thank you, darling!